India’s export of processed food, agricultural products sees decline of 9.32%
Neeraj Mohan
New Delhi, December 31
India’s export of agricultural and processed food products has seen a 9.32 per cent decline from April to October in the fiscal year 2023-24 when compared to the last fiscal.
Traders suffered a loss of around $1,438 million as the overall export earnings came down to $13,985 million, year-on-year basis from April to October 2023 from $15,423 million in the same period of the previous year, revealed the latest export data released by the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA).
This decline in agricultural exports is noteworthy, especially against the backdrop of specific commodities demonstrating contrasting trends.
The overall exports of cereals suffered a decline of nearly 24 per cent during this period. It came down to $6,290 million from $8,258 million, as the wheat exports were the worst affected and reported a fall of nearly 98 per cent due to the blanket ban imposed on exports by the government to counter spiralling prices in the domestic market.
However, the basmati export witnessed a 16.27 per cent rise, reaching $2,959 million from $2,545 million during the previous year as as the country exported a total 2,608 million tonnes (MT) of rice against 2,545 MT. The figure revealed that total exports of long-grained aromatic rice increased to 26.08 lakh MT during this year against 24.10 lakh MT during the previous year.
Due to the ban, the country’s non-basmati rice export suffered a setback with a decline of 20.16 per cent.
Interestingly, India’s buffalo meat export has registered 11.31 per cent increase during this period as the meat traders exported 7.34 lakh MT meat against 6.70 lakh MT last year. Despite the positive momentum in basmati exports, the overall scenario is marked by a challenging landscape for the farm sector. The Centre’s imposition of curbs on shipment of various commodities has played a significant role in shaping this trend.
